Sunday, December 5, 2010

Flood Update

Well, we've found out that it's going to be a lot more painful than anticipated. We had to leave our home for 24 hours for them to spray for mold. Luckily we have awesome neighbors and have had offers from 4 different families for us to stay with them if we need to. So Wednesday night, we packed up for an overnight stay at our generous neighbors' home. Since the flooding was likely soaking in for days, there is a lot more moisture than originally anticipated by the "drier dudes" and it was deemed that most of the walls on our main floor would need the bottom 2 feet to be removed for drying purposes.

After some testing, they discovered that we have lead paint in the original layer of paint and so it would not be safe for our family to be around during the "demolition" (shudder) as they called it. So we packed up again, and slept away once more.They had to bring in a storage unit so they could remove our lower kitchen cabinets and store them there until it's dry behind them. Because we no longer have a kitchen sink, by insurance standards, our home is deemed "unlivable" and we could stay in a hotel on their penny. We opted for staying home and letting them pay for our meals out instead. We are extremely grateful to all our neighbors who have invited us over for meals and dropped some by. It has made this ordeal so much happier for our family.This is the room that took the most damage- all the walls are nearly completely removed, the carpet is gone, and the ceiling is almost completely gone. You can see through to the garage now.Here's a view from the garage, through the theater room (as we lovingly called it). You can see the library behind.On the plus side, we will get our entire main floor repainted on our insurance's penny! Also, they anticipate that everything should be dry by Monday and the reconstruction will begin Wednesday. We are basically going to completely redo the room with our TV in it, and I'm kind of excited/nervous. This is my chance to make it JUST as I want it. Any advice?